And both were young

by Madeleine L'Engle

Madame looked at her and raised her eyebrows mockingly. "You look as though you'd been beset by highwaymen. What happened?"

"It was just an initiation," Flip said. "It was fun, you know."

"Was it fun?" Madame asked.

"Oh—yes."

"And what was supposed to happen next?"

"Oh—they were supposed to come back and get me in half an hour. But I'm sure I'd been there more than half an hour."

"What was the initiation about?" Madame asked. "Or is that a secret?"

"Oh—I don't think so," Flip said. "It was just our class initiating the new girls. I was the only one who really had to be initiated because all the other girls did a Courageous Deed so they were exempt."

"Why didn't you do a courageous deed?"

"I couldn't think of any. The things I thought would be brave I didn't think they would, and I couldn't think of any of the same kind of things the others did."